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Showing posts with label Did You Know?. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Did You Know?. Show all posts

Sunday, September 12, 2010

Glasnost and Perestroika

By definition, Glasnost translates to English as "freedom of speech." 


Perestroika, which comes from the Russian word that means "restructuring," is basically defined as the restructuring of the political, social and economical system. 


Mikhail Gorbachev was a forward thinker, and he knew the dangers of his nation repeating its tumultuous history. When he came to power in the mid-1980s, the Communist Party was the ruling faction in the USSR. Through his ideas of perestroika and glasnost, he was able to change 75 years of thought among his people and move the nation into a new beginning.


Read More: http://www.ehow.com/about_4569497_gorbachevs-glasnost-perestroika.html

Friday, September 10, 2010

NINJA

What Does NINJA Loan Mean?
A slang term for a loan extended to a borrower with "no income, no job and no assets". Whereas most lenders require the borrower to show a stable stream of income or sufficient collateral, a NINJA loan ignores the verification process.

Investopedia explains NINJA Loan
A NINJA loan is considered to be a type of subprime lending, often found in the mortgage market. While the specifics of any NINJA loan can change, most offer the lender a low initial rate, which is then increased after a few periods of payment. The borrower is hoping for the value of their property to appreciate significantly, allowing them to repay the loan with the newly found equity. However, when the property doesn't appreciate, many borrowers cannot make the repayment. This makes the NINJA loan a very risky proposition for lenders.

Source: http://www.investopedia.com/terms/n/ninja-loan.asp

Elevator Pitch

What Does Elevator Pitch Mean?
A slang term used to describe a brief speech that outlines an idea for a product, service or project. The name comes from the notion that the speech should be delivered in the short time period of an elevator ride, usually 20-60 seconds.

In the financial world, the speech refers to an entrepreneur's attempt to convince a venture capitalist that a business idea is worth investing in.

Investopedia explains Elevator Pitch
Venture capitalists use the quality of the elevator speech as a way to judge whether to continue with an idea. The elevator pitch is also used by project managers, salespeople and jobseekers as a way to market themselves or their ideas. An elevator pitch should include why your product, idea or project is worth investing in by explaining such things as the features, benefits and cost savings.

Source: http://www.investopedia.com/terms/e/elevatorpitch.asp

Greenshoe Option

What Does Greenshoe Option Mean?
A provision contained in an underwriting agreement that gives the underwriter the right to sell investors more shares than originally planned by the issuer. This would normally be done if the demand for a security issue proves higher than expected. Legally referred to as an over-allotment option.

A greenshoe option can provide additional price stability to a security issue because the underwriter has the ability to increase supply and smooth out price fluctuations if demand surges.

Investopedia explains Greenshoe Option
Greenshoe options typically allow underwriters to sell up to 15% more shares than the original number set by the issuer, if demand conditions warrant such action. However, some issuers prefer not to include greenshoe options in their underwriting agreements under certain circumstances, such as if the issuer wants to fund a specific project with a fixed amount of cost and does not want more capital than it originally sought.

The term is derived from the fact that the Green Shoe Company was the first to issue this type of option.


Source: http://www.investopedia.com/terms/g/greenshoe.asp

Thursday, September 9, 2010

Pareto Principle

What Does Pareto Principle Mean?
A principle, named after economist Vilfredo Pareto, that specifies an unequal relationship between inputs and outputs. The principle states that, for many phenomena, 20% of invested input is responsible for 80% of the results obtained. Put another way, 80% of consequences stem from 20% of the causes. Also referred to as the "Pareto rule" or the "80/20 rule".

Investopedia explains Pareto Principle
This principle serves as a general reminder that the relationship between inputs and outputs is not balanced. For instance, the efforts of 20% of a corporation's staff could drive 80% of the firm's profits.  In terms of personal time management, 80% of your work-related output could come from only 20% of your time at work.

The Pareto Principle can be applied in a wide range of areas such as manufacturing, management and human resources. In Pareto's case, he used the rule to explain how 80% of property in Italy was owned by 20% of the country's population.

Source: http://www.investopedia.com/terms/p/paretoprinciple.asp

Iceberg Principle

Observation that in many (if not most) cases only a very small amount (the 'tip') of information is available or visible about a situation or phenomenon, whereas the 'real' information or bulk of data is either unavailable or hidden.

The principle gets its name from the fact that only about 1/10th of an iceberg's mass is seen outside while about 9/10th of it is unseen, deep down in water.

Source: http://www.businessdictionary.com/definition/iceberg-principle.html#ixzz0z2LyJbMx